Traditionally, French Top cooking ranges have included a cooking surface made up of a platen and a circular portal located within the platen. In such cooking ranges, a cooking vessel (such as a pot) may be heated using the platen portion of the cooking surface and/or the circular portal portion of the cooking surface. For example, cooking vessels may be positioned in different areas of the cooking surface (e.g., entirely on the circular portal, entirely on the platen, half on the platen and half on the circular portal, etc.), causing the cooking vessels to be heated to different temperatures. Additionally, in order to increase the heat provided to a cooking vessel, the circular portal may traditionally be removed, so that the cooking vessel may be exposed to the flame generated by a burner (as opposed to receiving heat indirectly through the circular portal). Such traditional cooking ranges, however, may be deficient.